Save My Soul
by UnfortunateFairytale
Summary: Betrayed by Inuyasha, Kagome is found and brought to Sesshomaru's castle. In need of someone to care for Rin and payment for saving her life, Sesshomaru allows her to stay within the safety of his home while she recovers. Unforeseen events land Kagome a spot in a contest to win the demon lord as her unlikely mate.
1. Night Has A Thousand Eyes

**Chapter 1- Night Has A Thousand Eyes**

Kagome stared blankly at the woman in front of her. Although, she supposed, the person could hardly be described simply as a woman when she was truly an undead soul preserved inside a clay body. The horrific words spoken seconds earlier replayed in her mind on a loop.

 _'Kikyo has to absorb the rest of your soul to become human again'_

Inuyasha had dragged her here under the pretense he wanted her to hunt with him for dinner. It wasn't that uncommon for him to let her tag along since she'd become more proficient with her bow and powers, but something had seemed...off this time. He'd seemed set on a certain path, ignoring all signs of game along the way, and Kagome wanted to laugh at how she hadn't even questioned him on it once. She had so blindly trusted him, as she'd trusted him these past 5 years with her life, her safety, and perhaps most importantly, her heart. After the final battle ended, Kagome had decided the past suited her more than where she'd originally been born could after all she'd been through and done. Although her family lived in that time, and it had been incredibly hard to say goodbye to them, she knew that returning to that 'normal' life would have been nearly impossible. Sango and Miroku had returned to and rebuilt the demon slayer village with her younger brother Kohaku and in the past few years had started their own family. Shippo often stayed with them to help with the children and building, leaving for weeks at a time.

While Kagome herself... settled. She'd settled for traveling along with Inuyasha, who still had the tendency to berate her. She'd settled for him always wanting to wait to be with her. She'd settled for..waiting for him to love her more than he loved Kikyo.

"Inu...Inuyasha?" Kagome stuttered out. Surely this was some sick joke?

"You heard him quite clearly, Kagome" Kikyo stated quietly. Slowly she began striding towards her incarnation as Inuyasha grabbed hold of her arms and held her still. Frantically trying to backpedal was proving wholly ineffective to prevent the undead miko from reaching her, and Kagome's pleas to Inuyasha, to _anyone_ turned hysterical. Kikyo finally came to a stop in front of the pair and placed her hands atop Inuyasha's, encouraging him to release her. He paused for all of a moment before pulling away from Kagome as though she'd burned him.

"...Why?"

"Do you mean to direct your question towards me," Kikyo glared into the blue eyes in front of her, "or towards the half-demon you've so foolishly clung to all this time?"

"Both" came the quiet reply, Kagome's head lowering so she gazed at the ground between her and Kikyo.

"All I've wanted since Naraku was defeated is to truly live once again, and so while you hopelessly followed Inuyasha as _he_ followed me, I searched for a way to make that happen. I came upon an old friend of Urusue's who was more than happy to tell me how to complete my return." Kikyo gestured with one pale arm and one of her soul collectors came winding from the trees surrounding the clearing and loosely wrapped around the two mikos. Kagome's breathing turned ragged and her eyes stung with unshed tears. Kikyo let out a sharp, humorless laugh at the sight and made a gesture for Inuyasha to speak.

"You wanted so badly to believe that I would eventually give up on her. Perhaps I would have, with time, moved on with you but...she came to me soon after the battle and told me that she wanted us to be together finally. When she first told me of the only way that was possible I denied the very thought."

Kagome drew in a shuddering breath and held it.

"But I will always love her above anyone else."

Her heart cracked.

"Even you."

The soul collector wound tighter around the mikos as Kagome felt her heart shatter.

"Don't worry Kagome" Kikyo calmly brought the heartbroken girl into a crushing embrace. "You won't feel a thing."

Kikyo's hands began to glow pink, and the soul collector let out a chilling wail as its body began to glow a blinding white. Time seemed to slow for Kagome. She felt a tugging in her chest, a heavy pressure building there and behind her closed eyes. She wasn't ready to die. She'd survived Naraku. She'd transcended _time._ She'd become a powerful miko in her own right, surpassing even Kikyo's skills.

A single tear gleamed on her cheek as it fell.

And then Kagome released a scream that sent the birds fleeing to the sky.

She used the slight surprise on Kikyo's part to put all of her strength behind shoving the elder miko away, breaking the hold. The soul collector, unprepared for the sudden weight being thrown into its side, was forced to unwind from the two women. Inuyasha withdrew tessaiga on instinct, confusion showing when the sword refused to transform. Swearing, he returned it to its sheathe and advanced on Kagome as he would on a wounded, cornered animal, his hands up and pace slow. The act was one Kagome knew well from her several hunts with him, so when Inuyasha felt he was close enough to leap at her, she had already swiftly put a barrier up around herself. She felt a twinge of regret when he connected with it and was thrown backwards, smashing several trees in the impact. but the feeling was short lived when she heard Kikyo coming up behind her. Kagome turned, swiftly kicking out with her leg and connected with Kikyo's side. With the undead miko down for now, and Inuyasha struggling to get back to his feet from the wreckage, Kagome took her chance and ran from the clearing, using reiki in her legs to increase her speed. It was a technique she'd been working on perfecting over the past year ever since she'd stumbled upon the realization that she could enhance her strength by storing reiki in her fists. She'd eventually reasoned that she could do the same with her legs, and if she could enhance her strength, perhaps she could change it to enhance her speed instead.

Thinking quickly, Kagome flared her aura once, a call for help from anyone who might be around before she suppressed it as she fled. She knew Inuyasha could track her through scent alone but hopefully her aura disappearing would throw him off even slightly until she could chance upon a stream to wash away most of her scent. The light provided by the moon was hardly enough to illuminate the forest around her to get a clear visual as she streaked through the trees, near tripping over roots every once in a while. Each breath came harder than the one before, and Kagome stumbled slightly as she grasped hold of a tree. A cliff lay before her that was about 30 feet above a raging waterway. Slowly, she crept towards the edge and peered warily down, mind racing as she tried to think through her chance of survival.

A twig snapped behind her, and the sound startled her enough that she slipped, a surprised scream tearing from her as she fell. She clung to consciousness as her body connected with the water waiting to catch her with enough force that she supposed something had to have broken. She struggled to the surface and flailed in panic while trying to reach the shore. The water dragged at her exhausted body and made it near impossible to navigate through the raging water around her. Forcing another burst of power into her legs, she finally managed to drag herself on the shore and collapsed, shuddering with the force of coughing up the water stuck in her throat. She gave herself all of two minutes before she somehow got her legs beneath her and stumbled forward through the treeline, glad that at least now Inuyasha would be hard-pressed to track her. She forced herself to travel another mile before her body could no longer continue.

Panting and near to passing out from exhaustion, Kagome collapsed against a large tree and finally allowed her body to rest, unaware of the eyes watching her from the shadows.


	2. An Unlikely Savior

**Chapter 2- An Unlikely Savior**

Katsu stood smoothly from his crouch behind the patch of bushes he'd used as cover after he'd followed the frantic human.

He and his daughter had been making their way towards Sesshomaru's home for the mating rites when he'd felt an unmistakable flare of reiki, and the desperate feel of it had made him pause. Glancing in the direction, he'd sent Maeko ahead with assurance that he'd catch up, and though he'd resented the discouraging look she shot him before obeying, he still found himself drawn to that aura. As he'd approached the spot in which it'd come from however, he slowed to assess the two beings swiftly approaching the area. One, he noted with a wrinkle of his nose, reeked of graveyard soil and wilting flowers, while the other he quickly noted was a half-demon. Underneath the stench of what had to be several days worth of travel with no bathing, Katsu supposed the half-demon would smell almost identical to Lord Sesshomaru. When the pair streaked past his vision, his eyes widened when he realized it was indeed Sesshomaru's infamous half-brother Inuyasha. He had the woman on his back as he used the speed his heritage had blessed him with in order to pursue what Katsu could only assume was the owner of the flared aura that had disappeared. He'd easily bypassed the couple and picked up the trail the half-breed seemed to be following before swiftly catching up to a frantic, swift human. His eyes widened in surprise at how quickly she was moving, given that he could tell she was no demon, but that feeling had swiftly switched calculating as he beheld the fall in front of her now prone figure. While Inuyasha was a significant distance away yet, thrown off no-doubt by the sudden lack of aura, Katsu knew it was only a matter of time before he caught up to the woman. He'd watched her slowly make her way to glance down at the water raging below her and patiently watched as she weighed her options. When she hesitated too long, Katsu sensing Inuyasha nearing their location, he acted without thought, giving her a nudge from the cliff harder than he intended.

The scream that had tore through her throat as she tumbled through the air, and the splash the impact of her body made as she hit the water sounded worse than he'd imagined it would. He had stood and watched as she struggled in the water, ready to aid her should she need it but preferring to stay and handle the half-breed closing in. When she'd struggled out of the water and made her way to the cover of the trees, Katsu had released the breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. By the time he'd turned back around, Inuyasha was standing behind him, glaring at him as he held the priestess behind him. He'd flashed a feral grin before asking if he'd intruded upon the half-demon's hunt by tossing the girl in the river. He'd been sure to recall how she had been swept away by the raging water and surely would've drowned by now. Inuyasha had seemed indifferent to the news, but the priestess had been outraged, demanding they find her. Ensuring they continued down the riverbank in the opposite direction from their quarry, he'd waited until they were out of sight before making his way towards the woman who smelled of lilies.

Presently, the miko rested against a large tree, and by her breathing and the clearly exhausted state she was in, Katsu could tell she would be out for a while to come. He weighed his options while he studied her more closely now that he had the opportunity. He could leave now that he knew she was no longer in any immediate danger, but any number of demons or thieves could chance upon her before she awoke, and as he could sense that her stores of reiki were depleted, she would be hard-pressed to fight anyone off.

She let out a soft sigh, and his eyes wandered over her features. Even sufficiently drenched as she was from her unexpected swim, she was still obviously beautiful. Silky, blue-black hair framed her face and flowed to just below her waist, and her body appeared lithe, legs long and stomach flat. Her breasts, which he merely glanced over, of course, looked as though they would be perfect handfuls. She wore traditional miko garbs and although he could see no weapon on her, he knew she must be a weapon herself if she had found a way to enhance her speed with her reiki.

And so Katsu made his decision.

Gingerly, striving to jostle her as little as possible, he picked the beautiful miko up and formed his cloud below him for the travel to Sesshomaru's.

 ***20 minutes later***

Sesshomaru stood just inside the gates as Katsu's aura grew closer, and the Northern Lord landed gracefully in front of him. His eyes narrowed minutely at the unexpected guest in the older Lord's arms, recognizing his wretched brother's miko. He'd kept tabs on his half-brother often enough to know the miko had grown in both mind and body, and had developed her once meager powers to a point even Sesshomaru had grown to respect her.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Katsu inclined his head, unsure how the other lord would react to an uninvited human, let alone an uninvited miko.

"Lord Katsu," Sesshomaru returned the slight gesture, "Why is it you have my brother's miko?"

"After whatever caused her to end up like this, I'm sure she is no longer your brother's anything."

At that, Sesshomaru merely raised a brow before turning sharply and leaving Katsu to follow in his wake. He would demand an explanation from them both soon enough, whenever the woman decided to wake up. For now, he supposed, she could rest in the infirmary wing with Mura to care for her.

"Your room has been prepared across from Maeko's should you wish to retire for the night," Sesshomaru paused for a moment, gesturing towards Hisoka, the guard closest to them, "the miko may stay in the infirmary until further notice."

Hisoka moved to take the miko from Katsu, and Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed once more when the elder Lord merely shrugged off the guard and continued forward with the miko still clutched in his hold. He'd heard the rumors in the North, so like the ones his father had caused so long ago that Sesshomaru had scoffed in disgust when he heard.

"Do not take too much of an interest in her, Lord Katsu, she will not be staying long," Sesshomaru warned, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

Katsu stiffened at the tone, at the carefully hidden disgust under the words.

"I'll not deny that I find the woman attractive," he began slowly, with enough bite that Sesshomaru turned his full attention to him, "but do not forget that although I am in your home, I am still a Lord. My interests are my own. You are not above me, boy."

"Hn."

With that, Sesshomaru once more began his way back into the manor, intent on finishing the last of the paperwork Jaken had put on his desk before resting.

The miko would be gone by tomorrow.


	3. The Ruin of the Miko

**Chapter 3- The Ruin of the Miko**

The miko, it seemed, would not be gone by tomorrow. Nor the day after that.

As far as his healers could tell by their limited knowledge of mikos, the woman had completely exhausted both her body and her powers. They estimated she'd stay in her sleeping state for at least a week, but she'd surprised them all by opening her eyes on the fourth day.

Kagome knew she was no longer on the ground in the woods the moment she finally awoke and saw a roof above her. The sheets wrapped around her body were cool against her heated skin, and she could feel the difference in her clothing material.

"Alert Lord Sesshomaru the miko has awoken."

Slowly, Kagome forced her eyes to look to her right where the voice had come from. An unknown demoness in a simple light blue kimono stood beside her bed, watching as another woman followed her order and disappeared through the shoji door.

"Do you know where you are, miko?" the demoness asked once she returned her attention to Kagome.

Kagome shook her head slowly, not trusting her voice.

"Lord Katsu happened upon you after your ordeal and brought you with him to Lord Sesshomaru's manor. That was about three days ago, and you've been out of it the whole time. You should count yourself as lucky that our Lord allowed you to be taken in. He is not known for his love of humans."

Kagome registered the information, but couldn't find it in herself to care much for her whereabouts. However, she did want to laugh at the fact this demoness thought she should consider herself lucky when Kagome thought she was the exact opposite.

"Do you mind telling me your name? We've all taken to calling you miko, though the more prejudiced refer to you as 'human'."

Jin waited for the woman to respond, patiently standing with her hands clasped in front of her demurely. Though she figured an attack was one of the furthest thoughts from the miko's mind, still she wanted to appear as non-threatening as possible. When the woman merely gave a non-committal shrug, Jin frowned and focused her attention more on observing her patient.

"Are you in any pain? Are you sore? I can make a quick remedy. You need only te-"

"No," Kagome whispered, sitting up and swinging her legs so that they dangled over the cot, "I just feel a little stiff from lack of moving. When may I leave?"

Before Jin could form a response, Sesshomaru strode into the room with Mura trailing behind him.

"You may leave as soon as you have repaid your debt to This Sesshomaru for allowing you to stay here in your weakened state."

The old Kagome would have felt a flare of temper at the notion he believed she owed him for an act of kindness that she _had not asked for,_ but now she felt nothing. There was an emptiness where before there had been a huge well of emotion within her.

"When?" the single word slipped past her lips almost silently, and Sesshomaru himself almost didn't catch it even with his acute hearing.

"This Sesshomaru does not repeat himself," he narrowed his eyes. Was his half brother's companion as dimwitted as Inuyasha? No, in all their exchanges, while she had seemed overemotional, surely, Sesshomaru had always found she was more intelligent than most.

"No," Kagome drew in a deep breath before snapping her head up to stare into the demon lord's golden eyes, "When did I ask to be saved or cared for? My memory must be messed up because I do not remember speaking such requests."

Jin and Mura both froze at the disrespectful tone and the way in which this human woman spoke to their Lord. Neither dared speak or move as Sesshomaru grabbed the woman by her neck and lifted her so that they were eye level, meeting her glare with one of his own.

"You disrespect me, and you are unworthy of respect yourself when you act so ungrateful. Lord Katsu deemed you worth saving, enough so that he has taken responsibility for you and your actions during your stay here."

"I didn't want-"

"Silence," Sesshomaru snarled and bared his teeth at the insolent miko in his grasp, "are you so broken you would rather have been left to die?"

"You have no right. You have no idea what I've been through!" Though Kagome raised her voice, still she couldn't find it in her to be as angry as she once would have been. The empty feeling only seemed to increase the more Sesshomaru pressed her. The word 'broken' replayed on a loop in her head as she gazed impassively into his icy glare. Despite their senses of smell not being nearly as keen as their Lord's, both Jin and Mura could smell the depression heavily lacing the woman's scent.

"I do not care."

The silence following his statement was tense, and Mura found herself moving closer to the door should a fight ensue. A dry laugh finally came from the miko, then, "of course you don't. Neither do I. Not anymore."

"You _will_ stay and perform whatever tasks I require of you," when Kagome opened her mouth to argue, Sesshomaru silenced her with a glare and slightly increased the pressure of his hand around her throat. "You'll stay for 3 more days."

Kagome continued staring blankly at him, and Sesshomaru released her neck, allowing her a minute longer to accept what she could not change.

"...Am I to stay in this room?"

"Mura," Sesshomaru addressed the servant rather than answer the miko's quiet question, "show the miko to her room, and then have her dressed properly and brought to the dining room for the midday meal."

"Yes, my Lord."

The falcon demoness bowed low before gesturing for the miko to follow her from the room. Kagome continued staring blankly at Sesshomaru for a few minutes longer before finally, slowly, following after the servant. They were both through the door when Sesshomaru stopped them.

"Mura."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"During her stay, the miko will be addressed as Lady Kagome."

All three females started in surprise at the unexpected command. Mura recovered first and gave another low bow, this one directed at both her Lord and her new Lady.

"If you'll follow me, Lady Kagome."

The two disappeared within the hallways of the castle, Kagome not even bothering to memorize the route or glance around at her surroundings.

"If I might speak, my Lord?" Jin requested once they were gone. Sesshomaru turned to regard his top healer, giving her the tiniest of nods to grant her permission. "While the Lady Kagome's body seems healed enough, I worry about her mental state. She did not even attempt burning you with her reiki when threatened, her face shows no emotion and her eyes are...empty."

"Is she well enough to work?"

"Well, physically, yes my Lord but-"

"Then that is all that matters," Sesshomaru coldly interrupted. The mental state of his brother's human wench was not his problem to solve.


End file.
